Filippidis Returns To Greece, Arrested On The Spot

The former chairman of the failed state-owned Hellenic Postbank, Angelos Filippidis returned to Greece on Feb. 5 even as authorities were urging his re-arrest and extradition from Turkey where he had been initially taken into custody before being released by a court. Filippidis’ lawyer confirmed earlier that his client returned to Greece and intends to co-operate with officials investigating a bad loan scheme at the bank of some 500 million euros, the proceeds given without collateral and even to heavily indebted people or companies, prosecutors said. Immediately after his arrival at Eleftherios Venizelos Airport, the Greek authorities arrested him as there was a pending arrest warrant against him for the Postbank scandal. He was taken to  police headquarters in Athens. Filippidis, one of the main figures in the Postbank scandal, is accused of providing major loans to Greek businessmen without any assurances. Investigators found 14 million euros in various secret foreign bank accounts in Filippidis’ name and said he had 25,000 euros and a Swiss residency permit on him when first arrested. There was no information immediately available on why he decided to return to face charges although he said he was being politically persecuted because he’s a friend of former Premier and previous New Democracy Conservative party leader Costas Karamanlis. He didn’t explain why the current government of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, the current party leader, would want him singled out. On Jan. 11, Filippidis was arrested by the Turkish authorities in Istanbul due to an Interpol alert although he was tracked while using his cell phone to call Greek TV to defend himself.

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